Edna Mahan guards indicted on misconduct, sexual assault charges

Former inmates of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, located in Union Township, Hunterdon Conty, testify about alleged instances of sexual abuse and harassment before a committee in the New Jersey Senate in February.
Nick Muscavage/Staff Video

FLEMINGTON - Two former officers at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women have been indicted on charges of misconduct and sexual assault, the latest development in a series of misdeeds at the facility, authorities announced Friday.

A Hunterdon County grand jury handed up the indictments Thursday against Brian Ambroise, 33, of Union, Union County, and Ronald Coleman, 39, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, according to a statement from the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office.

Ambroise and Coleman are charged with five counts of second-degree official misconduct, two counts of second-degree conspiracy to commit sexual assault and two counts of pattern of official misconduct, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Anthony P. Kearns III said in the statement.

Additionally, Coleman was indicted on three counts of second-degree sexual assault, the statement said.

Ambroise was employed by the state Department of Corrections as a corrections officer for three years before his arrest in October 2016, and Coleman was employed as a corrections officer for 17 years before his arrest in February 2018.

“The Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office will continue to fairly and aggressively investigate all suspected violations of our criminal code, with priority given to crimes of this nature," Kearns said in the statement. "Justice demands we do so, regardless of who the victim is and no matter who the perpetrator.”

The allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct at the facility, the state's only prison for women, located in Union Township, Hunterdon County, resulted in a state Senate Law and Public Safety Committee hearing early this year and a probe launched by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Several lawsuits were filed by current and former inmates of Edna Mahan against the state Department of Corrections, including a class action lawsuit. In June, a federal lawsuit settled for $35,000 was awarded to a woman who said she was the victim of sexual abuse while detained at the facility.

In the last three years, seven former employees of Edna Mahan have been arrested and charged with crimes related to the correctional facility, according to the county prosecutor's office.

In July, Jason Mays, of Hillside, a former prison guard at the facility, was sentenced to 16 years in state prison on charges of sexual assault, sexual contact and official misconduct.

Mays, 36, was also sentenced to be subject to provisions of Megan’s Law and will be under parole supervision for life based on his conviction for sexual assault.

Ahnwar Dixon, of East Orange, later pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree official misconduct for acts related to his employment as a corrections officer there.

In 2017, Thomas Seguine, another former senior corrections officer, and Joel Herscap, an institutional trade instructor, each pleaded guilty to, and were sentenced to prison for, official misconduct.

Joel Mercado, a former corrections officer, has also been indicted and is awaiting trial, according to the county prosecutor's office.